Chicken brooder or coop.



B. M. SELZER. CHICKEN BROODER OR 0001.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1909.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

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E. M. SELZER.

CHICKEN BROODER 0R COOP= APPLICATION FILED MAR.16. 1909.

944,918 Patented Dec.28,1909.

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ELLA M. SELZER, 0F MORNING SUN, IOWA.

CHICKEN BROODER OR COOP.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Application filed March 16, 1909. Serial No. 483,751.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLA M. SELZER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Morning Sun, in the county of Louisa and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Chicken Brooders orCoops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in chicken broodersor coops and my object is to rovide a device of this class which ispreferably constructed of metal and readily assembled together.

A further object is to provide means for holding the parts of the coopin their assembled positions and at the same time reinforce the same.

A further object is to provide a plurality of closures for an opening inone wall of the coop and suspend said closures from the same set ofhinges and a still further object is to provide adjustable latches forholding said closures in their open or closed positions.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter referred to and moreparticularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, Figure 1is a perspective view of my improved brooder in its assembled positionshowing two of the do sures in their open position. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view through the brooder. Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail sectional view showing one of the devices for securing the partsof the brooder in its assembled position. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsectional view through the brooder as seen on line 4t, Fig. 2, and Fig.5 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the manner ofhingedly mounting the closures on the brooder.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 and 2 indicate thefront and rear walls, respectively, of my improved brooder and 3indicates the end walls thereof the vertical edges of said walls beingformed with interlocking terminals 5 and 6, respectively, while thelower edges of each of the walls are provided with channels 7 in whichis adapted to extend a flange 8 depending from the edges of a floor 9,the interlocking terminals and entering of the flange in the channels,securely holding the walls and floor against casual separation.

The upper edge of the front wall 1 is provided with an angular extensionor lip 10, which lip extends forwardly from the front wall and isadapted to be engaged by a channel extension 11 at the forward edge of acover or roof 12, while the rear edge and end sections of the roof areprovided with depending flanges 13, which are adapted to overlap the endwalls 3 and rear wall 2, the upper edges of the end walls and rear wallbeing turned down to form a reinforcing strip 14.

After the several walls and floor have beenproperly assembled together,the channel 11 is engaged with the lip 10 and the roof then lowereduntil the flanges 13 engage the outer faces of the rear and end walls,after which clamps 15 are moved into engagement with the roof tosecurely lock the same in position over the walls and at the same timeform a rigid connection between the walls and roof, the clamps 15 beingpreferably formed from a section of heavy wire and having their lowerends 1'0- tatably mounted in blocks 16 carried by the walls, the upperportion of the clamps being bent substantially L-shaped, the horizontalportion 16' thereof being adapted to engage the upper face of the roofwhile the vertical portion 17 is adapted to form a handle, by means ofwhich the clamps may be readily moved into or out of engagement with theroof.

The front wall 1 is provided with an opening 18, through which entrancemay be had to the interior of the brooder and said opening is providedwith a plurality of closures, preferably three in number, the first ofwhich comprises a frame 19, in which are placed a plurality of bars 20,this frame being adapted to engage the outer face of the front wall 1when in its closed position and by providing the bars and spacing thesame a distance apart, the chicks or small fowls within the brooder mayreadily pass between the bars, while the larger fowls are excludedtherefrom.

The second closure comprises a frame 21, to which is secured a cover ofwoven wire 22 or similar substance, which when in its closed positionwill prevent ingress or egress between the bars 20, but Will provideperfect ventilation and light for the interior of the brooder and ifdesired, a cover of cloth may be substituted for the wire or placedthereover. The third closure, which is preferably formed of metal,consists of a solid plate 23, which is adapted to rest against the outerface of the frame 21 when they are in their closed positions, the upperand lower edges of the plate 23 having ledges 24 which are of suflicientextent to receive the frames 19 and 21, the free edges of said ledgesresting against the face of the front wall when all of the closures arein their closed positions, the plate 23 forming a complete closure forthe opening 18.

Each of the closures is provided with a bearing rod 25, which rodsproject beyond the upper and lower edges of the closure and are adaptedto extend through openings 26 in the hinge sections 27, the opening 26in each of the hinges 27 being of such diameter as to receive all of thebearing rods and permit the closures to swing into a closed position.

The closures are held in their open or closed positions by means oflatches 28, which latches preferably terminate in spirals 29, whichspirals extend at right angles to the trend of the latches and areentered through openings in the front wall 1 and said latches may beadjusted to engage and hold all three of the closures, or but one of theclosures, as occasion may require by rotating the spiral portions of thelatches and extending them from or toward the outer face of the wall 1and by forming said latches of spring wire, the latch portion thereofwill exert pressure against the closures and hold the same in their openor closed positions, a similar latch 30 being provided adjacent theupper edge of the front wall 1, which latch is adapted to engage theforward edge of the roof 12 and hold the same securely in engagementwith the lip 10, the engagement of the latch with struck-out portions 32remaining integral v with the end walls and thereby preventing rain,etc., from entering the opening, at the same time permitting air tofreely pass therethrough.

By constructing the various parts of my improved brooder of sheet metal,the same will be practically indestructible and can be readilytransported from place to place and it will likewise be seen that thechicks may readily leave the brooder when the frame 21 and plate 23 arein their open position and during the warm weather the chicks may bekept within the brooder and fully protected by closing the frame 21,thereby permitting the air to freely circulate through the brooder,while in cooler weather the plate may be closed, thereby excluding theair from the opening 18.

What I claim is:

A device of the character described, comprising a casing having anentrance-opening, opposite brackets arranged laterally of saidentrance-opening near the bottom and top corner edges thereof, a closurefor said entrance-opening having outstanding upper and lower flanges,additional closures for said entranceopening adapted to be receivedbetween the flanges of the aforesaid closure, said closures havingpintles, said brackets having opposite openings therein, said pintlesbeing received at their upper and lower ends within said openings.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELLA M. SELZER.

lVitnesses H. E. CURRAN, FRANK C. SELZER.

